Friday

A TALE OF TWO BIJANS (BIJAN PAKZAD, BIJAN SHAMS)

Apparently I am not the only completely ridiculous Persian fashion designer in the world. Meet Bijan, the self proclaimed king of Beverly Hills.

Those of you old enough to remember the 80s might remember Bijan. Then it was all about Beverly Hills - there were Camp Beverly Hills t-shirts, Giorgio Beverly Hills perfume, Beverly Hills Cop movies, and of course Beverly Hills 90210. Displaying your wealth was de rigueur and that's something Bijan wrote the book on. He had a big perfume and was famous for designing a gun made of pure gold.

Well times have changed but Bijan has not. My brother's name is also Bijan, so a friend of his came across this video (presumably while on-line stalking my brother). Bijan (the brother) edited it down to a palatable length.

The amazing thing about this video is that Bijan thinks he is being charming. It's like the only thing Americans loathe more than rich people is Middle Eastern people. Wake up and smell the hate, Bij!

But the more I think about it the more I realize that to be successful you have to be delusional. Nothing will hold you back more than considering what other people will think, second guessing your ideas, or being self conscious. People will talk shit no matter what you do so why not say fuck it and get rich?

When I was working at Express the incredibly successful CEO, asking about what to deliver in December (a season ridiculously called "Resort" because a tiny percentage of people go on vacation at this time) poised this question to the room: "What is our girl buying to wear on her Holiday in St.Tropez?" So that's what she does with all the money she saves buying $39.99 dress slacks!

Some gems from Bijan the designer:

On his love life: "My lady companion is 30 years old. She's pretty and she's on her way to becoming an attorney and I love that."

On his price points: "I happen to be the most expensive clothing designer in the world and (mock sympathy) I am sorry for that."

On his house keeper: "That is Olivia and I love (corrects himself) like her very much."

In contrast, some gems from Bijan the brother:

On people: "I hate everybody."

On current affairs: "The world is ending."

On his sister: "The best thing about you is that you don't think."

With that attitude I can tell you that Bijan the brother will never get what Bijan the designer ends his video with: George W. Bush saying, "You da man."

WOW....Camp Bev Hills..that is a throw back. Georgio came in those yellow and white stripe boxes. Hell I still remember the Tommy store on Rodeo. Stay golden Leila...stay golden....p.s.-I always thought "resort" was a lame delivery.Brettums